Letting – how we help

During the tenancy, we will continue to collect the rent each month and pay the rent to you less our fees. We are the first contact point for the tenant, taking stress away from you. We deal directly with contractors if there are any maintenance issues and would keep you informed at all times of any issues. We check the property on a regular 6-month period and again would report any issues to you. We are here to give you peace of mind.

Here at Lane & Browns we will do our utmost to ensure the rent is paid over to you within a day or so of it being received into our account. We chase the tenant for any late payment of rent and report to you if there are any difficulties. We like to keep on top of rent payments, so you do not have to.

Your tenant would be responsible for paying all their own utility bills and council tax for the time they are living at the property. Should they move out and the property becomes empty then it is the landlord’s responsibility to pay.

It is important to check the property every 6 months to ensure the property is being looked after. It always gives us a good opportunity for the tenant to report any non-urgent problems regarding maintenance issues. As a Landlord you will have the peace of mind that the property is being looked after by the tenants

Our management visits will include investigation of any breach of tenancy & any defects which come to our notice or are clearly and adequately brought to our attention by the tenant. We will advise you of the outcome of the inspections through a digital date stamped report.

Both the landlord and Lane & Browns are legally forbidden from entering without the tenant’s permission. We are required to give the tenants 24 to 48 hours’ written notice.

It is a legal requirement that a Gas Safe Certificate be obtained which would need to include all gas appliances including the boiler at the property. This must be carried out annually by a Gas Safe Engineer & Lane & Browns can arrange this for you if you would prefer us to.

You will need to provide tenants with a Gas Safety Certificate within 28 days of the annual check.

But that is not all. It is a landlord liability that smoke alarms should be fitted on every floor of the property from the start, and carbon monoxide detectors must be in any room where solid fuel, such as wood or charcoal, is used. Test both alarms on the first day of the tenancy. It’s also a good idea to install carbon monoxide detectors near gas appliances, although it is currently not compulsory.

Again, this is a legal requirement. To be able to rent your property you will need an Energy Performance Certificate. The EPC will last 10 years and there may already be one on the property if you have purchased the property in the past few years.

Make sure your property is up to scratch in terms of its energy performance – and hand a copy of the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) to your tenant.

Your property must be rated at least ‘E’ in the EPC. If you are found to be arranging a new letting without ensuring your property is up to this standard, you may be fined.

Lane & Browns can arrange this for you if you would prefer us to.

To be able to rent your property you will need an Electrical Safety Report marked as satisfactory. Lane & Browns can arrange this for you if you would prefer us to.

New electrical safety regulations that came into force on 1 June 2020 mean that you are required to have every fixed electrical installation inspected and tested at least every five years by a qualified electrician.

You need to obtain a report of the results of the inspection and test, supply it to each tenant within 28 days, and retain a copy until the next inspection.

You must make sure that your rental property in England is fit for human habitation. If you fail to comply with standards set out under the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act 2018, your tenants can take legal action against you. It is good practice to respond to any maintenance requests in a positive and efficient manner too.

If your tenant stops paying, we will always continue to chase them and keep you updated. There are several rent guarantee insurances on the market, and we would recommend you investigate this. This will give you peace of mind knowing the rent would be covered in the event your tenant’s financial circumstances changed and they were unable to pay their rent.

Lane & Browns can arrange this for you if you would prefer us to.

There are strict procedures to follow if you require a tenant to leave your property or they have breached their tenancy agreement. You should always try and attempt to resolve any disputes first to save you both time and money, but if this is not possible then legal action may be necessary.

ARLA is the United Kingdom’s top professional body for letting agents. Registered members are trained professionals who operate at all levels of the letting agency industry including business owners to office employees. ARLA helps eliminate the problems that arise from unregistered agents who do not handle their client’s money (both landlords and tenants) in a professional manner.

ARLA say of themselves that, “ARLA Licensed letting agents hold client money in a designated client account and accounts are independently inspected annually. Consumers will receive a professional service from an ARLA Licensed agent but if things go wrong neither tenants nor landlords will be left out of pocket.”

You can rest assured that as an ARLA registered letting agent, Lane & Browns will comply with the professional standards outlined in the NFoPP Conduct and Membership Rules, as well as proactively demonstrating their commitment to raising standards for residential lettings, both from the perspective of the tenants and the landlords.

A lot of tenants and landlords do not realise that the lettings industry is not regulated, which means that anyone is able to set up as a letting agency.

So, what are the benefits

• An ARLA Propertymark member will have Professional Indemnity Insurance.

• An ARLA Propertymark member will hold membership to an independent redress scheme.

• An ARLA Propertymark member will adhere to the Code of Practice that is in place, ensuring you of the best possible standards.

• You can also be sure that as your letting agent Lane & Browns will be undertaking regular training as part of our ARLA Propertymark membership. We also make sure that we stay up to date with any changes in the industry, especially those of a legislative nature.

• Being an ARLA Propertymark member is a mark of quality. This means that you are going to be working with the best experts in the field, ensuring you of high quality and professional advice always.

• If you work with an ARLA Propertymark member, your money is going to be protected. This is because ARLA take Client Money Protection (CMP) very seriously, and this means that their members do too. Your money is going to be held in a designated separate bank account, which means that it would be protected should the company go bust or any unforeseen incident like this were to occur. As an ARLA Propertymark member Lane & Browns will need to submit Client Money accounts on a yearly basis, and these will be audited independently.

As you can see, the advantages of choosing a letting agent that is an ARLA Propertymark member is there for all to see.

Whether buying, selling, renting, or letting – the property market is a constant learning curve, but being well prepared and well educated can make all the difference. Our team of experts are extremely experienced in all property matters and are on hand to offer advice and answer any questions you may have on becoming a landlord; no question is too small and the more you ask, the less confused you will be.